If you go
› What: “Elijah.”› When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday, March 12.› Where: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 8451 East Brainerd Road.› Admission: $20; free for students with valid ID.› Website: www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.
Baritone Jonathan Ten Brink, who has been praised for a "big voice" that "rumbles like foghorns" (Pioneer Press), will sing the title role in the Chattanooga Bach Choir performance of Mendelssohn's "Elijah."
Neshawn Calloway
The biblical story of the prophet Elijah will be told through Felix Mendelssohn's exciting oratorio "Elijah" on Sunday afternoon, March 12, when the Chattanooga Bach Choir and Orchestra combine with the concert choir from Center for Creative Arts for a spring concert.
The concert will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church in East Brainerd.
The program includes selections from Part I and all of Part 2 of the oratorio. Mendelssohn based his text directly on passages from 10 books of the Old Testament as well as the book of Matthew in the New Testament.
Scenes described in the oratorio would make an Oscar-worthy film: Elijah's challenge to the people of Israel to test God against their false god, Baal; Elijah's vindication; his persecution by Queen Jezebel; the prophet comforted by angels before being carried away to heaven in a flaming chariot.
Jonathan Ten Brink, baritone, will sing the title role of Elijah. Other guest soloists joining the combined choirs are Lucia Elena Sanchez, soprano; Caitlin Hammon Moore, soprano; Neshawn Calloway, mezzo-soprano, who is also director of the CCA choir; Kelly Stultz, contralto; and Harv Wileman, tenor.
Calloway says that while her students have sung with other student groups, this is their first appearance with an adult choir. It's a performance opportunity she believes will benefit her students in more ways than simply learning to sing classical literature.
"I want them to learn the amount of work and commitment that goes into preparing professionally. I want them to value the rare opportunity they have to perform with an orchestra," she says.
Long says faith is the essential message of "Elijah."
"Specifically, he boldly defends his belief in Jehovah as the true God of Israel and opposes the false god, Baal, worshiped by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Elijah's prophecy that God will punish Israel for breaking his covenant comes to pass in the form of a terrible drought and famine. To end the suffering, Elijah proposes a test between the two gods to see which is more powerful. When Jehovah triumphs, Elijah is vindicated, the drought ends and the covenant is restored," the director explains.
The Bach Choir was founded more than 30 years ago to perform the choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as the work of his contemporaries.
Long points out that "Mendelssohn has an important connection with Bach, in that he was instrumental in the revival of interest in Bach's music, conducting the first performance of the 'St. Matthew Passion' nearly 80 years after the composer's death."
The director also reveals the soprano aria that opens Part 2, "Hear ye, Israel; hear what the Lord speaketh," was written by Mendelssohn for famed 19th-century opera star Jenny Lind. She performed the piece several times.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6284.